::''See also: [[Lifetime voting records of United States Senators and Representatives]]''

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According to the website ''GovTrack,'' Broun missed 167 of 4,501 roll call votes from Jul 2007 to Mar 2013. This amounts to 3.7%, which is worse than the median of 2.2% among current congressional representatives as of March 2013.<ref>[http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/paul_broun/412252 ''GovTrack,'' "Paul Broun," Accessed March 29, 2013]</ref>

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===Congressional Staff Salaries===

===Congressional Staff Salaries===

::''See also: [[Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives]]''

::''See also: [[Staff salaries of United States Senators and Representatives]]''

Biography

Broun grew up in Athens, Georgia where he attended Athens High School and graduated from the University of Georgia in 1967 with a B.S. in Chemistry. In 1971, he received his Medical Doctor degree from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. An internship at Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland, Oregon and a residency at University Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama followed. [4]

Issues

Specific votes

Fiscal Cliff

Broun voted against the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. He was one of 151 Republicans that voted against the bill. The bill was passed in the House by a 257/167 vote on January 1, 2013.[6]

The proposal was killed after being voted down in the U.S. Senate with a 40-59 vote.[8]

The proposal would have cut about $5 trillion over the next decade and aimed to balance the budget by the end of the 10-year period.[7] The 2013 bill had opposition from 10 Republicans — the same number that voted against it in 2012. In 2011 only four Republicans cast a vote in opposition.[7] Democrats have unanimously voted against the bill every year.[7]

Conservative Fight Club

According to the conservative website RedState, Broun is one of 16 U.S. House members in the "Conservative Fight Club", a designation meant to describe the gold standard of conservatives, as outlined by RedState. They are the 16 Republicans who voted against the continuing appropriations resolution to avoid the impending government shutdown in March. This type of resolution is used to fund government agencies when a formal federal budget has not been approved.[9]

Elections

2014

After Chambliss' January 25, 2013 announcement that he was retiring at the end of his current term and would not seek re-election in 2014, Paul Broun filed paperwork for his candidacy on February 6, 2013.[10]

Analysis

Lifetime voting record

According to the website GovTrack, Broun missed 167 of 4,501 roll call votes from Jul 2007 to Mar 2013. This amounts to 3.7%, which is worse than the median of 2.2% among current congressional representatives as of March 2013.[16]

Congressional Staff Salaries

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Broun paid his congressional staff a total of $964,907 in 2011. He ranks 166th on the list of the lowest paid Republican Representative Staff Salaries and he ranks 222nd overall of the lowest paid Representative Staff Salaries in 2011. Overall, Georgia ranks 24th in average salary for representative staff. The average U.S. House of Representatives congressional staff was paid $954,912.20 in fiscal year 2011.[17]

Net worth

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Broun's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $16,016 and $240,000. That averages to $128,008, which is lower than the average net worth of Republican Representatives in 2011 of $7,859,232. His average net worth decreased by 78.10% from 2010.[18]

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Broun's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $309,018 and $860,000. That averages to $584,509, which is lower than the average net worth of Republican Representatives in 2010 of $7,561,133.[19]

National Journal vote ratings

2012

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Broun ranked 175th in the conservative rankings in 2012.[20]

2011

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Broun ranked 178th in the conservative rankings.[21]

Political Positions

Percentage voting with party

Paul C. Broun voted with the Republican Party 86 of the time, which ranked 223 among the 242 House Republican members as of November 2011.[22]

Controversies

Anti-science comments

At the Sportsman's Banquet at Liberty Baptist Church in Hartwell, Georgia on September 27, 2012, Broun made a number of anti-science comments that incited controversy, especially since Broun at the time was a high-ranking member of the House Science Committee.

Broun stated, "God's word is true. I've come to understand that. All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the big bang theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of Hell." He went on to say, "You see, there are a lot of scientific data that I've found out as a scientist that actually show that this is really a young Earth. I don't believe that the earth's but about 9,000 years old. I believe it was created in six days as we know them. That's what the Bible says."[23]

In response to the criticism, a spokeswoman for Broun explained the comments, saying that they were of a personal nature and that Broun was “speaking off the record to a large church group about his personal beliefs regarding religious issues.”[24]

Personal

Broun has been married to his wife Niki since 1985 and has two adult daughters, a son, and two grandchildren. [4]